1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mechanical arrangements for mounting arrays. More specifically, the present invention relates to mechanical arrangements for mounting infrared focal plane arrays.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/232,893, entitled LOW COST NIGHT VISION CAMERA, filed Apr. 13, 1994, by Klapper et al., the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference, discloses and claims a novel and advantageous night vision system which incorporates a low cost night vision camera. The camera includes a focal plane array (FPA) of uncooled infrared detector elements. Conventionally, the array was mounted directly in a connector socket which was soldered onto a printed circuit board. The pins of the connector positioned and aligned the FPA relative to the printed circuit board. The FPA was generally in thermal contact with a heat sink through the connector and the printed circuit board and the assembly was disposed within a housing.
The connector, printed circuit board and housing were typically of a custom design. Hence, despite the plastic construction of the connector, it has been a particularly expensive item to manufacture.
In addition, inasmuch as the printed circuit board served as an optical bench, it had to be precisely aligned to achieve a proper optical center line for the focal plane array. As the focal plane array must be precisely mounted, the precision mount of the circuit board substantially contributed to the cost and complexity of the board.
Finally, mounting the FPA on the circuit board also limited the signal board to one location within the housing.
Thus, a need existed in the art for an inexpensive yet effective system and technique for mounting a focal plane array within a night vision camera.